Lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana SAN, who spoke while delivering the 4th convocation lecture of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Ile-Ife, titled, ‘The blessings of natural resource endowments and the curse of corrupt leadership: Critical perspectives on Nigeria’s state of the Federal Government’s move underdevelopment’, vehemently opposed the efforts to obtain the loan, stressing that, at the end of the day, only 50% of the amount will arrive Nigeria while generations unborn will suffer the repayment.
According to him, he had written a letter to that effect to the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.
He also urged government to recover the looted wealth of the nation and prosecute the culprits notwithstanding their political affiliation, stressing that the payment and servicing of debt should be investigated, as the loans that gave rise to the debt were substantially diverted by public officers.
Speaking on the alleged trapped $200billion, he said: “Curiously, the Buhari administration has failed to address capital flight and round tripping by financial institutions, otherwise why has the government been reluctant to ask EFCC to recover and sanction the oil and shipping companies which under declared the crude oil worth billion of dollars shipped from Nigeria,under the Jonathan administration?
“Why has the Federal Government failed to recover the $20.2billion withheld from the Federation Account by the NNPC and some oil companies from 1999-2012?
“Why has the Federal Government not inquired into the allegation that the sum of $25.4billion was laundered and illegally taken out of Nigeria by a telecommunication company?
“Why has the government failed to recover the looted wealth of the nation which has been traced to financial institutions in the west and the United Arab Emirates?”
“Why has the CBN failed to recover the $7Billion deposit and N600billion bailout given to the commercial banks in 2006 and 2008 respectively? Instead of intensifying efforts to recover such huge funds among several others, the government is determined to take a loan of $29.6b”
He noted that there is enough money in Nigeria to make the people live happily forever if not for the poverty of ideas of the leadership which has impoverished the generality of Nigerians.
